Shmuel Lerner, Founder and Owner of S.Lerner, said, “We began exploring a new plate solution for two reasons. First, we wanted to eliminate the use of as many noxious chemicals as possible to reduce our environmental footprint and to ensure a safer workplace for our employees. Secondly, we believed that the technology had evolved since we last examined plate options and we wanted to ensure we were taking advantage of those improvements for better quality and increased productivity.”

S.Lerner chose to implement Asahi AWP™-DEF water washable plates due to Asahi’s good reputation in the marketplace and its expertise in polymers. “We were also attracted by the fact that we no longer would need solvents in our platemaking process,” Lerner said.

Lerner was pleased to also find upon implementation of the new plates that platemaking time was significantly reduced over the company’s previous process. “Obviously,” he said, “this reduces our overall cycle time, but even more importantly, if we have to remake a plate for any reason, we are able to get the press back up and running much faster than before.”

Asahi plates are also delivering improved quality for the firm. “We have several new customers as a result of the quality we can now deliver,” Lerner commented. “After we showed these customers our new capabilities, they began to work with us, generating new revenue streams and beginning what we hope will be lasting customer relationships that were not within reach for us before.”

Asahi plates incorporate Pinning Technology for Clean Transfer, a flexographic plate technology specifically engineered by Asahi that features low plate surface energy that transfers all remaining ink to the printed substrate. Compared to conventional plates, this reduces press-cleaning stops, creating a significant profitability improvement. These plates deliver very high resolution with fine screen rulings and minimum dots fading out to zero, allowing a broader total colour gamut to be achieved, providing more design flexibility and enhanced graphic quality.

S.Lerner has also been pleased with the service and support, both during and after implementation of the new plates. “It was a very smooth installation and we were already producing plates within 12 hours. I give Asahi service and support a ranking of 10 out of 10!”

Lerner plans to explore even more ways the adoption of Asahi plates can help with the company’s productivity and profitability, including the use of fixed color palette printing, which is made possible by Asahi’s precise plate register and complete ink transfer.

For more information about Pinning Technology for Clean Transfer and other flexographic solutions from Asahi Photoproducts Europe, visit www.asahi-photoproducts.com.